Hearing protection while hunting

[Patocazador]

at work I can zone in on machining issues sometimes by sound alone.

If your hearing were to turn out like mine, you'ld still be able to hear those machines .. sometimes all the time.
Seriously though, you lose your higher frequency sounds but can hear traffic, machinery, dishes clattering in the kitchen, etc.
However, you have to have subtitles to watch a movie, and women might as well be speaking Russian for all the good it does me.

 

[bison]

When I hunt I have a set of earplugs that are joined by a plastic string around my neck, the kind that look like a plug rather than the sponge ones. Takes just a second to put them in when I see a critter and I always know where they are. I tried hunting with electronic plugs in all the time, but they were a pain.

 

[okiewita40]

I will be buying some e-muffs for hunting this year. At 46 I have a bad ringing in my ears all day, every day. I grew up hunting and shooting. Then the military with every weapon that was in the inventory at the time.

Then for several years after I got out I worked around a lot of heavy machinery. I wish I knew enough growing up to use hearing protection.

Do yourself a favor and use the hearing protection.

 

[nickE10mm]

http://www.earplugstore.com/qb2bandedearplugs.html

 

[ZeroJunk]

I wear plugs every time I mow the grass, run a chainsaw, tractor etc.

I always wear plugs when I shoot at my range.

But, as far as a few shots a year hunting. I don't worry about it.

And, my hearing is excellent for somebody my age.

Now, if I was using a brake or large magnum I would likely change my attitude.

 

[oneounceload]

and I certainly don't want anything that can impede my sight and hearing when I'm walking through stubble fields in rattle snake country

Those electronic ears can not only save your hearing from being destroyed, you can actually hear BETTER with them on and turned up. Buy remaining ignorant AND idiotic is a right we all have in this country and you are free to pursue that course of action, just as I am sure your forefathers didn't ear seat belts or use life jackets, maybe even smoked tobacco products all while living to the ripe old age of 120.......

 

[buck460XVR]

However, you have to have subtitles to watch a movie, and women might as well be speaking Russian for all the good it does me.

I totally can identify with that. I can still hear a turkey gobble off in the distance or spittin' and drummin' @ 20yards, but I had a watch a few years back with an alarm on it. Somehow it accidentally got set and it went off for three years twice a day.........and I never heard it. My co-workers fifteen feet away would tell me it was goin' off, or my wife would tell me it was goin' off while we watched T.V., but since I couldn't hear it, I thought they were nuts. One day in deer stand with my e-muffs on......... I finally heard it. :banghead:

I've got so I wear my e-muffs even when upland bird hunting. With the sound amplification I can now hear the grouse clucking before they take off or woodcock whistling as they fly. Never heard that before. I can get by with a softer bell on the dog too.

 

[22-rimfire]

I keep plugs around my neck on a shoe string all the time deer hunting. I rotate between normal hearing and amplified muffs. I just can't handle the muffs for long periods of time. The sound of the wind really gets on my nerves. But yes, try to use protection if you can. But I wouldn't personally pass up a shot if I don't have time to slip in my plugs.

 

[Outlaw Man]

My typical hunting experience exposes me to very little hearing damage. I don't see anything I can shoot at!

I normally keep some plugs around for deer hunting and such, but honestly, I'm not as judicious as I should be about putting them in. On hunts where I know I'm going to be shooting a lot, I wear one or both.

I just picked up some open box Howard Leight electronic muffs at Bass Pro on the cheap, so I plan on trying those out.

 

[Inebriated]

I always use Howard Leight Impacts. Not only does it dampen the sound of the shot, but it also can enhance the sounds of things around you if you crank them up.

I'll always use ear pro when shooting, if I can help it.

 

[03Shadowbob]

I used to never wear hearing protection when I hunted and it never bothered me at all then one day I had my 357 Blackhawk on me and a deer within 20 yards and let a round rip. since then 3 years ago my ears ring ever so slightly. Point is, if I would have been used to wearing muffs I wouldn't have the ringing I have now at 41.
Don't be macho, get electronic muffs or when that deer comes in sight, slip your other muffs on. Or don't. Don't care either way but constant ringing sucks.

 

[hso]

hammer+nails - Nope

power tools - depends upon the tool and how long it is used (circular saw, chainsaw, sure. drills, jig saw, nope)

nail guns - depends on the power source, but typically not a problem

slamming doors in large, empty rooms -

road construction - again, depends upon what you're working

any motor sports - more likely than not

Which adds up to, wear hearing protection when engaged in any noisy activity and don't try to be a tough guy.

BTW, modern electronic muffs of good quality will provide a microphone for each cup so you can discriminate the location of the source of sound.

 

[Twig]

Only when I am bow hunting.

 

[Potatohead]

the day I go hunting with ear muffs and safety glasses is the day I'm kicked out of my hunting group.... there is an extent to overprotecting yourself. people hunted for hundreds of years with questionable firearms that blew clouds of burning powder out as they went off then then for decades after with poorly made and very unsafe metallic cartridges.

I know WWII vets that do not wear hearing aids and can hear better than I can... how many of them wore ear plugs while bombs were going off around them and they slid into a foxhole with 3 other guys blasting away with 30-06s? I am not refuting that gunshots will damage hearing but there is such a thing as being a little paranoid and overly cautious.

perhaps in 50 years when I'm deaf and have been blinded from not wearing eye protection while hunting I will sing a different tune but for now I'm calling hullabaloo on such claims.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

 

[buck460XVR]

the day I go hunting with ear muffs and safety glasses is the day I'm kicked out of my hunting group.... there is an extent to overprotecting yourself. people hunted for hundreds of years with questionable firearms

I assume that you have never shot, nor have you ever been within ten feet of someone shooting a .460 revolver. If you had, you would know that the O.P., intending to hunt with a .460 revolver, needs ear protection even if he intends to take only one shot. Not to would be a sign of sheer ignorance. One could hunt their whole life with an ought-six rifle and never suffer the damage to their hearing that one cylinder worth of hunting loads from a compensated .460 would do. Sure, wearing a helmet to push a moped up the driveway into the garage is overkill, but not wearing one to race motocross is stupidity. Same difference here.

 

[ZeroJunk]

The worst I ever hurt my ear was shooting a 357 pistol one time resting on the hood of a truck. The noise came back off of the windshield and my right ear literally hurt for a couple of days. Magnum pistols are a different deal than hunting rifles.

 

[nickE10mm]

ZeroJunk, magnum pistols ARE different, yes.

 

[BP Hunter]

I have never worn ear protection when hunting. I can't rely on electronic hearing devices to augment my hearin. I find it too unnatural. I have never fired more than 3 shots when hunting. Once, I fired my muzzleloader in a hunting blind, my hearing was muffled for a few hours after.

 

[surjimmy]

Your playing Russian Roulette with your hearing, and it will affect it down the road. My family and I ALWAYS use hearing protection when hunting. We leave them off until we are getting ready to shoot, then put them on.

 

[NelsErik]

I had an old girlfriend give me a pair of these fancy electronic ear plugs that fit in your ear and had a little plastic "stick" that stuck out so you could remove them. I fell down a small cliff and ended up putting the little stick through my earlobe. Now I just wear the Hickok45 ear protection, the Howard Leight Quiet Band. I just put them on before I take a shot.

 

[Paul7]

the day I go hunting with ear muffs and safety glasses is the day I'm kicked out of my hunting group.... there is an extent to overprotecting yourself. people hunted for hundreds of years with questionable firearms that blew clouds of burning powder out as they went off then then for decades after with poorly made and very unsafe metallic cartridges.

I know WWII vets that do not wear hearing aids and can hear better than I can... how many of them wore ear plugs while bombs were going off around them and they slid into a foxhole with 3 other guys blasting away with 30-06s? I am not refuting that gunshots will damage hearing but there is such a thing as being a little paranoid and overly cautious.

perhaps in 50 years when I'm deaf and have been blinded from not wearing eye protection while hunting I will sing a different tune but for now I'm calling hullabaloo on such claims.

Not all WWII vets saw combat. Its like citing the guy who smoked for 50 years and never got cancer.

 

[Muddydogs]

I believe the issue here is hunting with PPE. you are not in an enclosed space while hunting, the sound will not reverberate, you get it once.

you are not shooting at an animal at point blank range you are shooting 15-infinity yards away where anything with the velocity to come back and hit you also has the velocity to penetrate what you are shooting at and get absorbed back into the animal.

if you really think that a bullet is going to glance off an animal and come back in hit you in the eyes then you should stay home where it's safe.

Yep young and dumb, been there done that. I was tough once, didn't wear hearing protection when hunting and shooting a lot. One day in the goose field I popped off a few rounds and started feeling sick to my stomach to the point of wanting to puke. Layed there in my blind for a while and started to feel better, next flight came in I shot off a couple rounds and felt like hell again. Finaly thought maybe its my ears so I put in ear plugs and guess what I was fine. Now a days a child screaming or other sharp noise messes with my left ear. I don't wear plugs when hunting big game as I can't hear anything and a lot of times I only wear the left plug when duck hunting but if the shooting gets hot and heavy I throw in my plugs.

As for safety glasses I don't see how they could cause problems, most the time when I was hunting before glasses I wore sunglasses and now its either my perscription glasses or shades.

Its all fine and good to talk tough but all it takes is losing an eye then all the sorrys and should haves in the world won't make it better.

 

[22-rimfire]

Tahunua001 said....my farther never had to wear safety glasses and earmuffs when he went hunting, neither did my grand father or his grandfather before him.

people nowadays put way too much stock into what they read on the internet and though I do not profess to be the end all be all of hunting authorities, I do not put any stock whatsoever in stories of people losing their eyesight from bullets bouncing off game animals and people going deaf after the first unmuffled gunshot. Ans. History repeats itself unless you learn from past mistakes.

now I will saunter off to prepare for my season of reckless hunting where I will pay no attention to my safety and well being while flaunting my arrogance and ignorance in the face of internet health essays. Ans. I think you need to spend some time talking to a real health & safety person (Hso is one.). You are your own worst enemy when it comes to health and safety issues. One needs to pay attention and you only go around once.

My responses in red.

 

[Monson]

I have to agree with the young and dumb...or young and bulletproof. I've played music for 50 years on stage (read loud) and I shot both hunting and at the range with no hearing protection for a lot of those years and those are sure loud crickets I hear. I can't tell what someone is saying at parties with a lot of people are talking or what my wife is saying when the TV is on. Worse than that I can't understand one grandkid when I have a couple of others making noise too. By the way, you guys need to speak up...I can't hear what your typing!

 

[rondog]

I wish I had a dollar for every round I've fired without ear pro in my life. All that money still wouldn't ease the nonstop ringing in my ears. I bet they'll still ring when I'm dead.